Aug
25
Red-Fronted Brown Lemur
August 25, 2002 | Leave a Comment
Eulemur fulvus rufous: This is one of the prettiest lemurs I saw in Madagascar. Red-fronted browns live in multi-male/ multi-female groups of between 4 and 17 individuals. Each group needs a range of up to 100 hectares, depending on availability of food.
This photo shows the lemur sitting on a clump of figs that sprout, oddly, from the trunk of the fig tree. In this area, figs were plentiful, and served as a major source of food for the lemurs.
Fulvus are not sexually monogamous; females are observed to mate with every male in the group during their brief estrus period. Females prefer “novel” (young) males — don’t we all? After a few years, older males become socially and sexually peripheralized, providing only about 5% of the matings. No wonder the males do not provide any infant care!
(This photo is from my trip to Madagascar in 2000.)